Budget 2024: Allocation to fix pipes, infrastructure expected to solve water issue in Labuan

LABUAN - The announcement made by Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim through Budget 2024 on the allocation to fix pipes and infrastructure in Sabah is expected to solve the water issue in the state.

Labuan Corporation chairman Tan Sri Anifah Aman said it was due to a portion of RM1.1 billion being used to solve the water issues in Labuan, Sabah and Kelantan.

“I want to thank the Prime Minister for this allocation.

“This showed that he was aware of Labuan residents' issues and wanted to solve their woes,” he said in a statement, today.

The former foreign minister was confident that the news would surely be celebrated well in Labuan.

“Labuan residents have long suffered due to lack of clean water,” he said

Anifah thanked the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah for paying attention to the problems faced by the people of Labuan and Sabah.

“His Majesty took the time to visit Sabah and Sarawak and listen to the people’s voices. He even read all the letters given and shared the people’s grievances with the Prime Minister to ensure the voices were heard by the government,” he said.

He assured that he would always bring the issues faced by Labuan residents to the federal government’s attention.

“It is my responsibility to bring any matter related to Labuan to my government and I am happy that the unity government was taking this matter seriously,” he said.

He said he appreciated the efforts of the government to develop the Labuan International Business and Finance Centre (IBFC) as a financial Islamic hub that was compliant with the syariah completely.

He said Anwar announced that the full tax exemption would be granted for five years to Labuan entities that carried out financial or trading activities related to Islamic Finance.

“This incentive will increase Labuan’s potential to attract financial technology (fintech) investors who specialise in Islamic finance.

“The exception of the tax for five years was the best incentive to attract investors to Labuan to perform financial or business activities related to Islamic finances.

“When there are investors entering Labuan, the economy will develop creating high-value jobs and raising the economic standard,” he said.

Among the activities listed in the budget were digital Islamic banking, Islamic digital exchange and issuance of Islamic digital tokens.

Anifah who is the special advisor on international relations and foreign investment to the Chief Minister also thanked the Prime Minister for the allocation of RM6.6 billion for the state’s development fund.

He welcomed the devolution of power over electricity supply to the Sabah government in line with the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

“With the power to regulate electricity, I hope that the Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) will solve the electricity issue in Sabah and Labuan,” he said.